Elon Musk: Difference between revisions

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Elon Musk thrives in a state of ‘war,’ according to his new biography. One expert says the world’s richest man may be addicted to risk-taking.<ref>https://fortune.com/well/2023/09/16/elon-musk-biography-risk-taking-behavior-addiction/</ref> One of Musk’s rules is that empathy is not an asset - he himself claims not to experience it.<ref>https://www.vox.com/culture/23872485/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-biography-review</ref> Day by day, Musk's companies control more of the Internet, the power grid, the transportation system, objects in orbit, the nation's security infrastructure, and its energy supply.<ref>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/18/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-book-review</ref>
= Imperialism =
= Imperialism =


== Apartheid Emeralds ==
== Apartheid Emeralds ==


[[File:Apartheid Emeralds.png|thumb]]
[[File:Apartheid Emeralds.png|thumb|Elon likes memes, but not this one]]


Elon Musk grew up in an very wealthy family in Apartheid South Africa. According to Elon's father, Errol Musk, “we had so much money at times we couldn't even close our safe.”<ref>https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2</ref> Much of this wealth derived from Errol's purchase and ownership of half a Zambian emerald mine in the 1980s. These emeralds helped to fund the Musk family's "lavish lifestyle of yachts, skiing holidays, and expensive computers" - a lifestyle which Errol says turned Elon into a "merchant adventurer" and influenced his "break the rules" approach to his businesses such as [[Tesla]] and [[SpaceX]].<ref>https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2</ref>  
Elon Musk grew up in an very wealthy family in Apartheid South Africa. According to Elon's father, Errol Musk, “we had so much money at times we couldn't even close our safe.”<ref>https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2</ref> Much of this wealth derived from Errol's purchase and ownership of half a Zambian emerald mine in the 1980s. These emeralds helped to fund the Musk family's "lavish lifestyle of yachts, skiing holidays, and expensive computers" - a lifestyle which Errol says turned Elon into a "merchant adventurer" and influenced his "break the rules" approach to his businesses such as [[Tesla]] and [[SpaceX]].<ref>https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2</ref>  
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Only a week before the coup, the former president of [[Bolivia]], [[Evo Morales]], canceled a 2018 deal with [[ACISA]], a German company that makes electric car batteries from Lithium.<ref>https://en.mercopress.com/2018/12/13/bolivia-germany-agree-to-join-efforts-in-extracting-lithium-from-uyuni</ref> This partnership’s ambition was to produce batteries for Tesla, one of ACISA’s clients,<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-03/bolivia-s-almost-impossible-lithium-dream</ref><ref>https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/bolivian-coup-comes-less-week-after-morales-stopped-multinational-firms-lithium-deal</ref> by opening to ACISA & Tesla the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in southwestern Bolivia, home to an estimated 50-70% of the world’s [[Lithium_Mining|lithium]].
Only a week before the coup, the former president of [[Bolivia]], [[Evo Morales]], canceled a 2018 deal with [[ACISA]], a German company that makes electric car batteries from Lithium.<ref>https://en.mercopress.com/2018/12/13/bolivia-germany-agree-to-join-efforts-in-extracting-lithium-from-uyuni</ref> This partnership’s ambition was to produce batteries for Tesla, one of ACISA’s clients,<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-03/bolivia-s-almost-impossible-lithium-dream</ref><ref>https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/bolivian-coup-comes-less-week-after-morales-stopped-multinational-firms-lithium-deal</ref> by opening to ACISA & Tesla the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in southwestern Bolivia, home to an estimated 50-70% of the world’s [[Lithium_Mining|lithium]].
   
   
Despite having won the most votes <ref>https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bolivia-election-1.5333134</ref> by November 10th, 2019, Morales was forced to resign by an unelected anti-Indigenous fascist coup government<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/20/bolivia-el-alto-violence-death-protest</ref><ref>https://thepostmillennial.com/burning-the-wiphala-flag-how-canada-and-the-u-s-fueled-chaos-in-bolivia/</ref><ref>https://sfbayview.com/2019/12/pachamama-and-the-pope/</ref> which received covert support from the [[U.S. Military]]<ref>https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/</ref>, forcing him to flee to Mexico.<ref>https://branchoutnow.org/elon-musk-tells-the-truth-about-teslas-anti-democracy-profiteering-we-will-coup-whoever-we-want/</ref>
Despite having won the most votes <ref>https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bolivia-election-1.5333134</ref> by November 10th, 2019, Morales was forced to resign by an unelected anti-Indigenous fascist coup government<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/20/bolivia-el-alto-violence-death-protest</ref><ref>https://thepostmillennial.com/burning-the-wiphala-flag-how-canada-and-the-u-s-fueled-chaos-in-bolivia/</ref><ref>https://sfbayview.com/2019/12/pachamama-and-the-pope/</ref> which received covert support from [[The Pentagon]]<ref>https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/</ref>, forcing him to flee to Mexico.<ref>https://branchoutnow.org/elon-musk-tells-the-truth-about-teslas-anti-democracy-profiteering-we-will-coup-whoever-we-want/</ref>


= Federal Ties =  
= Federal Ties =  


== CIA / In-Q-Tel ==
== In-Q-Tel ==


In February 2002, Musk traveled to Russia with [[Mike Griffin]] (then president of [[In-Q-Tel]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s venture capital firm) to acquire three ICBMs for Mars colonization. After rejecting an offer to purchase one rocket for $8 million, Musk founded [[SpaceX]] to make the rockets instead.<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/</ref>
In February 2002, Musk traveled to Russia with climate denier [[Mike Griffin]] to acquire three [[Intercontinental Ballistic Missile|ICBMs]] for Mars colonization. At that time, Griffin was president of [[In-Q-Tel]], a "venture capital" fund [[subsidiary]] to the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. After rejecting an offer to purchase one rocket for $8 million, Musk founded [[SpaceX]] to make the rockets instead.<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/</ref>


== NASA ==
== NASA ==


Continuing to support Musk and SpaceX as a consultant from its inception, Mike Griffin left In-Q-Tel to become [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]]'s Chief Engineer and Associate Administrator for Space Exploration in the second Bush Administration. In 2005, [[George W. Bush]] appointed Griffin to become the new head of NASA - which paid off tremendously for Musk and SpaceX. Griffin oversaw the privatization of NASA's orbital transport program. Despite receiving applications from twenty aerospace companies, only SpaceX was selected and given $396 million - despite the new company having never flown a rocket.<ref>https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-spacex-became-nasas-go-to-ride-orbit</ref>
Griffin continued to support SpaceX as a consultant from its inception, referring to Musk as the "[[Henry Ford]]" the rocket industry needed.<ref>https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-22-fi-spacex22-story.html</ref>
 
Soon after, Mike Griffin left In-Q-Tel to become [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]]'s Chief Engineer and Associate Administrator for Space Exploration in the second Bush Administration. In 2005, [[George W. Bush]] appointed Griffin to become the new head of NASA - which paid off tremendously for Musk and SpaceX.  
 
Griffin oversaw the privatization of NASA's orbital transport program, launching a new Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. NASA received applications from twenty aerospace companies, yet only SpaceX was selected and given $396 million - despite the new company having never flown a rocket at this point.<ref>https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-spacex-became-nasas-go-to-ride-orbit</ref>
 
While at NASA, Griffin attracted sharp criticism from climate scientists such as [[James Hansen]] due to his outspoken climate denial and censorship of climate science within NASA itself.<ref>https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Administrator_Michael_Griffin_Not_Sure_Global_Warming_A_Problem_999.html</ref><ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053101173.html</ref><ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18964176</ref><ref>https://www.npr.org/2008/01/08/17926941/james-hansen-and-mark-bowen-on-censored-science</ref>While funding fossil-fuel intensive ventures such as SpaceX's rockets, Griffin was busy making large cuts to NASA's Earth sciences budget, leaving its "Earth Observing system" on the verge of collapse.<ref>https://parabolicarc.com/2008/03/18/mike-griffin-on-intolerance-global-warming-and-getting-with-the-program/</ref>
 
In December 2008, with SpaceX again on the verge of bankruptcy, Griffin awarded the company along with his own [[Orbital Sciences]] company each contracts with a combined value of $3.5 billion.<ref>https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_C08-069_ISS_Resupply.html</ref> Elon credited the NASA contract as saving his company, after three of its four initial launches crashed and burned. <ref>https://www.space.com/25355-elon-musk-60-minutes-interview.html</ref>
 
By 2011, with the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft had become NASA's sole means of reaching the International Space Station.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/science/space/spacexs-private-cargo-rocket-heads-to-space-station.html</ref>
 
== Space Development Agency ==
 
Shortly after [[Donald Trump]] appointed Mike Griffin as [[Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering]], Griffin created the [[Space Development Agency]].<ref>https://spacenews.com/space-development-agency-a-huge-win-for-griffin-in-his-war-against-the-status-quo/</ref><ref>https://www.sda.mil/what-will-the-space-development-agency-really-do/</ref>
 
The organization sought to procure a proliferated constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to combat China and Russia. Contracts to develop the constellation were given to [[L3Harris]] and [[SpaceX]] to build Starlink military satellites.<ref>https://spacenews.com/spacex-l3harris-win-space-development-agency-contracts-to-build-missile-warning-satellites/</ref> Making up Tracking Layer Tranche 0, these satellites will help form the "backbone" satellite communications network that eventually all Pentagon C2 systems will link into.<ref>https://breakingdefense.com/2021/04/theater-commands-ok-sdas-sat-plans-exclusive/</ref>
 
Both China and Russia brought concerns to the United Nations about the program,<ref>https://russiaun.ru/en/news/261022_v</ref> and various organizations warn it could be destabilizing and trigger an arms race in space.<ref>https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/12/16/approaching-third-rail-trilateral-treaty-to-prohibit-space-based-missile-defenses-pub-85965</ref><ref>https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/space-based-missile-defense-0</ref><ref>https://russiaun.ru/en/news/261022_v</ref>
 
Then-[[CIA]] Director [[Mike Pompeo]], the politician most lavishly funded by the [[Koch Industries]] petroleum company, called the project a “Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II".<ref>https://nationalinterest.org/feature/nuclear-weapons-china-and-strategic-defense-initiative-century-199549</ref>


= Transit =
= Transit =


== Hyperloop ==
== Tesla ==
 
[[Tesla]]
 
== Hyperloop vs. Mass Transit ==


[[File:Elon Musk and Rahm Emanuel.png|thumb|"Former Chicago Mayor [[Rahm Emanuel]] met with oligarch Elon Musk in 2018 to discuss building a hyperloop. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images)"]]
[[File:Elon Musk and Rahm Emanuel.png|thumb|"Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with oligarch Elon Musk in 2018 to discuss building a hyperloop. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images)"]]


<blockquote>"Musk’s ridiculous proposal is clearly little more than a cocktail napkin fantasy being publicized to keep Tesla’s stock price in the rarified strata where it presently resides so undeservingly."<ref>https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/14/the-problem-with-elon-mush-and-the-hyperloop/</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>"Musk’s ridiculous proposal is clearly little more than a cocktail napkin fantasy being publicized to keep Tesla’s stock price in the rarified strata where it presently resides so undeservingly."<ref>https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/14/the-problem-with-elon-mush-and-the-hyperloop/</ref></blockquote>


In 2018, Musk flew on his private jet from California to Chicago to advocate alongside former Mayor [[Rahm Emanuel]] for Musk's [[The Boring Company]] to build a hyperloop in Chicago with the backing of the City.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/elon-musks-highflying-2018-what-150000-miles-in-a-private-jet-reveal-about-his-excruciating-year/2019/01/29/83b5604e-20ee-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html</ref>
In 2018, Musk flew on his private jet from [[California]] to [[Chicago]] to advocate alongside former Mayor [[Rahm Emanuel]] for Musk's [[The Boring Company]] to build a hyperloop in Chicago with the backing of the City.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/elon-musks-highflying-2018-what-150000-miles-in-a-private-jet-reveal-about-his-excruciating-year/2019/01/29/83b5604e-20ee-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html</ref>
 
Despite the Boring Company's involvement in building transit infrastructure, Musk frequently disparages public transport while promoting individualized transport through private vehicles, such as the [[Tesla]] cars he sells.<ref>https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-awkward-dislike-mass-transit/</ref>
 
Musk's comments have been condemned as "elitist" and sparked widespread criticism from transportation and urban planning experts, citing evidence that public transportation in dense urban areas is more economical, more energy efficient, and requires far less space than private cars.<ref>https://qz.com/1165724/elon-musks-comments-about-public-transit-hurts-everyone</ref><ref>https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/dec/21/elon-musk-public-transport-transit-painful-twitter</ref><ref>https://www.axios.com/2018/01/05/elon-musks-mean-twitter-persona-1515110759</ref>


== Private Jet ==
== Private Jet ==
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The plane's use for frivolous, high-polluting activities was also juxtaposed by the Washington Post to illustrate Musk's hypocrisy regarding energy and climate:
The plane's use for frivolous, high-polluting activities was also juxtaposed by the Washington Post to illustrate Musk's hypocrisy regarding energy and climate:
<blockquote>In September, a few days after calling fossil fuels “the dumbest experiment in human history,” his plane burned thousands of pounds of jet fuel flying 300 miles from L.A. to Oakland so Musk could view a competitive video-gaming event.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/elon-musks-highflying-2018-what-150000-miles-in-a-private-jet-reveal-about-his-excruciating-year/2019/01/29/83b5604e-20ee-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>In September, a few days after calling fossil fuels “the dumbest experiment in human history,” his plane burned thousands of pounds of jet fuel flying 300 miles from L.A. to Oakland so Musk could view a competitive video-gaming event.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/elon-musks-highflying-2018-what-150000-miles-in-a-private-jet-reveal-about-his-excruciating-year/2019/01/29/83b5604e-20ee-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html</ref></blockquote>
= Cryptocurrency =
Given the influence of Musk's tweets in moving [[cryptocurrency]] markets,<ref>Ante, Lennart (February 3, 2021). "How Elon Musk's Twitter Activity Moves Cryptocurrency Markets</ref> economists such as Nouriel Roubini have identified his statements as a form of market manipulation.<ref>https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-monitor-tesla-elon-musk-063109452.html</ref>
== Bitcoin ==
In particular, Musk's social media promotion of [[Bitcoin]] and [[Dogecoin]] has boosted their prices - when Musk added "#Bitcoin" to his Twitter profile, this move "helped to briefly push up the price of the cryptocurrency by as much as 20%."<ref>https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/29/elon-musks-tweets-are-moving-markets.html</ref>
Following Tesla's 2021 announcement that it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and would be accepting payments in the cryptocurrency, the token surged to new highs, reaching a price of at least $44,200.<ref>https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/08/tesla-buys-1point5-billion-in-bitcoin.html</ref>
Tesla's announcement was criticized by environmentalists and investors due to the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining, and the price of Bitcoin subsequently crashed following Elon's reversal of this policy in the face of criticism.<ref>https://www.independent.co.uk/space/elon-musk-bitcoin-crash-tesla-cryptocurrency-b1846650.html</ref>
== Dogecoin ==
On April 3, 2023, [[Twitter]]’s traditional bird icon was replaced with [[Dogecoin]]'s Shiba Inu "Doge" icon, as the $258 billion racketeering lawsuit against Twitter CEO Elon "the Dogefather" Musk is heating up.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/legal/elon-musk-seeks-end-258-billion-dogecoin-lawsuit-2023-04-01/</ref><ref>https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/03/investing/dogecoin-elon-musk-twitter/index.html</ref> The lawsuit accuses Elon Musk of using his various companies to drive up the price of Dogecoin.<ref>https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-crypto-dogecoin-tesla-1850293273</ref> The price of Dogecoin surged by 25% in the day following Musk's replacement of Twitter's icon with a Doge.<ref>https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/04/04/dogecoin-futures-liquidations-jumps-to-26m-after-twitter-displays-tokens-logo-for-some-users/</ref>
== Milady Meme Coin ==
<blockquote>The meme coin revolution is far from over as a sparkling new token, Milady Meme Coin (LADYS) has printed a 12,056% upsurge to $0.0000001341 in a rare debut for such digital currencies. Springing to life from anonymous developers, Milady is becoming the subject of various theories on Twitter, including a subtle connection to Elon Musk. According to crypto analytics provider Lookonchain, an address was created about an hour before Elon Musk shared the tweet shown below.
The address acquired a total of 8 trillion LADYS tokens at an average price of $0.000000005652. The funds used for the purchase were the 25 ETH worth approximately $45,362 based on the current price of Ethereum. As pointed out by the data service provider, the address did not make any other purchases as of the time of writing. Since the LADYS token highlight was shared, a number of high-profile Venture Capital firms have also taken sizable positions in the meme coin. These token has recorded a more than $138 million trading volume over the past 24 hours, atop a market capitalization of more than $108 million at the time of writing.<ref>https://u.today/sparkling-new-meme-coin-soars-9800-following-elon-musks-tweet</ref></blockquote>


= Hollywood Propaganda =
= Hollywood Propaganda =
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The veritable [[idolatry|hero-worship]] displayed by the protagonist's adoration of Elon when he first appears in the scene illustrates the show's portrayal of Elon as an ideal "nerdy genius" to which the heroes (and audience) should naturally admire and aspire to emulate.
The veritable [[idolatry|hero-worship]] displayed by the protagonist's adoration of Elon when he first appears in the scene illustrates the show's portrayal of Elon as an ideal "nerdy genius" to which the heroes (and audience) should naturally admire and aspire to emulate.
== Star Trek ==
[[File:Elon + Lt General Thompson in 2019.jpeg|thumb|Elon Musk with Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson (commander of Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC)) at Air Force Pitch Day in November 2019]]
On several occasions, Elon has appealed to the ideal of "star fleet" as presented in the many Star Trek tv series as an ideal for which [[The Pentagon]]
(and specifically, the new [[Space Force]] branch created in large part due to Elon's long-time patron, climate denier + ex-CIA investor [[Mike Griffin]]) should strive for:
<blockquote> “How do we make Starfleet real?” Musk asked to roaring applause during a one-hour fireside chat with the commander of the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center Lt. Gen. John Thompson Feb. 28 at the Air Force Association’s annual winter symposium.
Musk then answered his own question, insisting that reusable launch vehicles [i.e. those built by SpaceX] are “absolutely fundamental” to achieving whatever space ambitions the military might have, including staying ahead of China. <ref>https://spacenews.com/elon-musk-calls-on-u-s-space-force-to-embrace-fully-reusable-rockets-make-starfleet-happen/</ref> </blockquote>
Ironically, when Musk was referenced in the latest Star Trek series 'Discovery', he received praise as an influential 'space pioneer' - but it was by a character from the 'evil' mirror universe, with a parallel/undesirable 'timeline.'<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/40871-elon-musk-star-trek-discovery-mirror-universe-lorca-flamethrowers-boring-company</ref> See also: [[Elon Tusk]].


= Sources =
= Sources =

Latest revision as of 18:14, 21 September 2023

Elon Musk thrives in a state of ‘war,’ according to his new biography. One expert says the world’s richest man may be addicted to risk-taking.[1] One of Musk’s rules is that empathy is not an asset - he himself claims not to experience it.[2] Day by day, Musk's companies control more of the Internet, the power grid, the transportation system, objects in orbit, the nation's security infrastructure, and its energy supply.[3]

Imperialism

Apartheid Emeralds

Elon likes memes, but not this one

Elon Musk grew up in an very wealthy family in Apartheid South Africa. According to Elon's father, Errol Musk, “we had so much money at times we couldn't even close our safe.”[4] Much of this wealth derived from Errol's purchase and ownership of half a Zambian emerald mine in the 1980s. These emeralds helped to fund the Musk family's "lavish lifestyle of yachts, skiing holidays, and expensive computers" - a lifestyle which Errol says turned Elon into a "merchant adventurer" and influenced his "break the rules" approach to his businesses such as Tesla and SpaceX.[5]

Indeed, Errol's wealth played a pivotal role in providing the initial capital for Elon and his brother Kimbal's first venture, Zip2: "most of their startup costs were covered by their father, Errol Musk, who gave them $28,000 to get going."[6]

Bolivia Coup

In July of 2020, Elon responded to online criticism on Twitter: “You know what wasnt in the best interest of people? the U.S. government organizing a coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia so you could obtain the lithium there,” with a shocking confession:

“We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”

Only a week before the coup, the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, canceled a 2018 deal with ACISA, a German company that makes electric car batteries from Lithium.[7] This partnership’s ambition was to produce batteries for Tesla, one of ACISA’s clients,[8][9] by opening to ACISA & Tesla the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in southwestern Bolivia, home to an estimated 50-70% of the world’s lithium.

Despite having won the most votes [10] by November 10th, 2019, Morales was forced to resign by an unelected anti-Indigenous fascist coup government[11][12][13] which received covert support from The Pentagon[14], forcing him to flee to Mexico.[15]

Federal Ties

In-Q-Tel

In February 2002, Musk traveled to Russia with climate denier Mike Griffin to acquire three ICBMs for Mars colonization. At that time, Griffin was president of In-Q-Tel, a "venture capital" fund subsidiary to the CIA. After rejecting an offer to purchase one rocket for $8 million, Musk founded SpaceX to make the rockets instead.[16]

NASA

Griffin continued to support SpaceX as a consultant from its inception, referring to Musk as the "Henry Ford" the rocket industry needed.[17]

Soon after, Mike Griffin left In-Q-Tel to become NASA's Chief Engineer and Associate Administrator for Space Exploration in the second Bush Administration. In 2005, George W. Bush appointed Griffin to become the new head of NASA - which paid off tremendously for Musk and SpaceX.

Griffin oversaw the privatization of NASA's orbital transport program, launching a new Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. NASA received applications from twenty aerospace companies, yet only SpaceX was selected and given $396 million - despite the new company having never flown a rocket at this point.[18]

While at NASA, Griffin attracted sharp criticism from climate scientists such as James Hansen due to his outspoken climate denial and censorship of climate science within NASA itself.[19][20][21][22]While funding fossil-fuel intensive ventures such as SpaceX's rockets, Griffin was busy making large cuts to NASA's Earth sciences budget, leaving its "Earth Observing system" on the verge of collapse.[23]

In December 2008, with SpaceX again on the verge of bankruptcy, Griffin awarded the company along with his own Orbital Sciences company each contracts with a combined value of $3.5 billion.[24] Elon credited the NASA contract as saving his company, after three of its four initial launches crashed and burned. [25]

By 2011, with the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft had become NASA's sole means of reaching the International Space Station.[26]

Space Development Agency

Shortly after Donald Trump appointed Mike Griffin as Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, Griffin created the Space Development Agency.[27][28]

The organization sought to procure a proliferated constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to combat China and Russia. Contracts to develop the constellation were given to L3Harris and SpaceX to build Starlink military satellites.[29] Making up Tracking Layer Tranche 0, these satellites will help form the "backbone" satellite communications network that eventually all Pentagon C2 systems will link into.[30]

Both China and Russia brought concerns to the United Nations about the program,[31] and various organizations warn it could be destabilizing and trigger an arms race in space.[32][33][34]

Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, the politician most lavishly funded by the Koch Industries petroleum company, called the project a “Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II".[35]

Transit

Tesla

Tesla

Hyperloop vs. Mass Transit

"Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with oligarch Elon Musk in 2018 to discuss building a hyperloop. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images)"

"Musk’s ridiculous proposal is clearly little more than a cocktail napkin fantasy being publicized to keep Tesla’s stock price in the rarified strata where it presently resides so undeservingly."[36]

In 2018, Musk flew on his private jet from California to Chicago to advocate alongside former Mayor Rahm Emanuel for Musk's The Boring Company to build a hyperloop in Chicago with the backing of the City.[37]

Despite the Boring Company's involvement in building transit infrastructure, Musk frequently disparages public transport while promoting individualized transport through private vehicles, such as the Tesla cars he sells.[38]

Musk's comments have been condemned as "elitist" and sparked widespread criticism from transportation and urban planning experts, citing evidence that public transportation in dense urban areas is more economical, more energy efficient, and requires far less space than private cars.[39][40][41]

Private Jet

According to the Washington Post, in 2018 Elon Musk flew more than 150,000 miles in 2018 as he "raced between the outposts of his futuristic empire." The plane is a 2015 Gulfstream G650ER that costs $70 million, operated by SpaceX and one of only a few hundred made.

The plane's use for frivolous, high-polluting activities was also juxtaposed by the Washington Post to illustrate Musk's hypocrisy regarding energy and climate:

In September, a few days after calling fossil fuels “the dumbest experiment in human history,” his plane burned thousands of pounds of jet fuel flying 300 miles from L.A. to Oakland so Musk could view a competitive video-gaming event.[42]

Cryptocurrency

Given the influence of Musk's tweets in moving cryptocurrency markets,[43] economists such as Nouriel Roubini have identified his statements as a form of market manipulation.[44]

Bitcoin

In particular, Musk's social media promotion of Bitcoin and Dogecoin has boosted their prices - when Musk added "#Bitcoin" to his Twitter profile, this move "helped to briefly push up the price of the cryptocurrency by as much as 20%."[45]

Following Tesla's 2021 announcement that it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and would be accepting payments in the cryptocurrency, the token surged to new highs, reaching a price of at least $44,200.[46]

Tesla's announcement was criticized by environmentalists and investors due to the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining, and the price of Bitcoin subsequently crashed following Elon's reversal of this policy in the face of criticism.[47]

Dogecoin

On April 3, 2023, Twitter’s traditional bird icon was replaced with Dogecoin's Shiba Inu "Doge" icon, as the $258 billion racketeering lawsuit against Twitter CEO Elon "the Dogefather" Musk is heating up.[48][49] The lawsuit accuses Elon Musk of using his various companies to drive up the price of Dogecoin.[50] The price of Dogecoin surged by 25% in the day following Musk's replacement of Twitter's icon with a Doge.[51]

Milady Meme Coin

The meme coin revolution is far from over as a sparkling new token, Milady Meme Coin (LADYS) has printed a 12,056% upsurge to $0.0000001341 in a rare debut for such digital currencies. Springing to life from anonymous developers, Milady is becoming the subject of various theories on Twitter, including a subtle connection to Elon Musk. According to crypto analytics provider Lookonchain, an address was created about an hour before Elon Musk shared the tweet shown below.


The address acquired a total of 8 trillion LADYS tokens at an average price of $0.000000005652. The funds used for the purchase were the 25 ETH worth approximately $45,362 based on the current price of Ethereum. As pointed out by the data service provider, the address did not make any other purchases as of the time of writing. Since the LADYS token highlight was shared, a number of high-profile Venture Capital firms have also taken sizable positions in the meme coin. These token has recorded a more than $138 million trading volume over the past 24 hours, atop a market capitalization of more than $108 million at the time of writing.[52]

Hollywood Propaganda

In their book "National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood," authors Matthew Alford & Tom Secker drawn on declassified documents and other materials to illustrate how the U.S. government - primarily the U.S. Military and the CIA - have influenced the production of over 2,000 Hollywood movies and U.S. television shows.

As a high-profile oligarch with extensive U.S. military contracts, Elon's occasional appearances in such productions and above-all his self-cultivation as a kind of real-life "Iron Man" illustrate how this propaganda machinery has played an important role in whitewashing and fictionalizing Elon's public image.

Iron Man

When preparing for the filming of Iron Man in 2007, Robert Downey Jr. (who plays Tony Stark) visited SpaceX's headquarters to get "a taste of the real thing."[53]

In 2010, Elon made a brief cameo in Iron Man 2, as a rival/friend of the fictional Tony Stark who briefly discuss business as fellow 'iron men.'[54]

In 2021, Forbes Magazine referred to Eon Musk as "America's Real Iron Man" in the title of an article which celebrated the oligarch as a "billionaire genius playboy philanthropist" and "real-life superhero."

The cultivation of this image in the capitalist press is clearly and explicitly designed to empower billionaires through promoting the mythology of their genius:

"More power to Elon Musk and the other deca-billionaires. What would life be without them designing, building, and running the engines that drive economic and technological progress?"[55]

Also in 2021, a photo-op was staged at the SpaceX launch site with the creator of an "iron man"-esque suit in south Texas meeting with Elon Musk as captioned by RGV Aerial Photography on Twitter: "Real life Iron man finds his suit!"[56]

Since purchasing Twitter in 2022 and taking over the company as its new CEO, Elon's profile picture has primarily been a photo of him wearing an "iron man" suit, illustrating the public image he projects of himself amidst increasing controversy and criticism.

Machete Kills

In the 2013 Film "Machete Kills," Elon appears as himself in the role of the CEO of SpaceX. In collaboration with the US government he helps Machete, the film's protagonist, by supplying him with a SpaceX rocket in order to defeat the film's antagonist.[57]

Big Bang Theory

In a brief cameo on the Big Bang Theory, Elon is portrayed as a selfless and generous person who devotes his free time to serving the poor.

When one of the show's characters exclaims "Elon Musk! What are you doing here?" - questioning why he was in the kitchen of a food pantry on Thanksgiving doing dishes, Elon responds: "I was demoted for being too generous with the gravy."[58]

The veritable hero-worship displayed by the protagonist's adoration of Elon when he first appears in the scene illustrates the show's portrayal of Elon as an ideal "nerdy genius" to which the heroes (and audience) should naturally admire and aspire to emulate.

Star Trek

Elon Musk with Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson (commander of Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC)) at Air Force Pitch Day in November 2019

On several occasions, Elon has appealed to the ideal of "star fleet" as presented in the many Star Trek tv series as an ideal for which The Pentagon (and specifically, the new Space Force branch created in large part due to Elon's long-time patron, climate denier + ex-CIA investor Mike Griffin) should strive for:

“How do we make Starfleet real?” Musk asked to roaring applause during a one-hour fireside chat with the commander of the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center Lt. Gen. John Thompson Feb. 28 at the Air Force Association’s annual winter symposium.


Musk then answered his own question, insisting that reusable launch vehicles [i.e. those built by SpaceX] are “absolutely fundamental” to achieving whatever space ambitions the military might have, including staying ahead of China. [59]

Ironically, when Musk was referenced in the latest Star Trek series 'Discovery', he received praise as an influential 'space pioneer' - but it was by a character from the 'evil' mirror universe, with a parallel/undesirable 'timeline.'[60] See also: Elon Tusk.

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  1. ↑ https://fortune.com/well/2023/09/16/elon-musk-biography-risk-taking-behavior-addiction/
  2. ↑ https://www.vox.com/culture/23872485/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-biography-review
  3. ↑ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/18/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-book-review
  4. ↑ https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2
  5. ↑ https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2
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  9. ↑ https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/bolivian-coup-comes-less-week-after-morales-stopped-multinational-firms-lithium-deal
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